COLDWATER, MI (WTVB) – A Special Land Use Permit from Genesis Outreach Ministries for the operation of a rooming or boarding house at 55 Church Street is scheduled to come before the Coldwater Planning Commission on Monday night.
City Planner Dean Walrack says in his report for the Planning Commission that the Genesis Outreach Ministries is proposing to operate a shelter for nine to 12 homeless individuals from the house. The shelter will have round-the-clock onsite supervision. The site also features a church building which will be used as a warming center and kitchen.
The site is located on the northeast corner of Church and Hudson Streets. To the south and west of the site are three churches: The United Methodist Church, Presbyterian Church, and St. Mark’s Episcopal Church.
The property is in an A-3 multi family residential district.
Walrack also stated in his report that “the City is currently facing a crisis of emergency sheltering for vulnerable families and individuals.” He noted that The Mission, Tommy’s House and the Family Promise have all ceased operation within the last year. He went on to say, “the location is near several churches which provide supportive services for vulnerable populations within the region. It is also within walking distance to City and County facilities, the Post Office, grocery stores, and other institutional, commercial, and service offerings.”
The Planning Commission is also scheduled to review draft ordinances covering solar energy facilities and the creation of a framework for allowing recreational marihuana establishments within the City. The establishments which it enables are those within the Michigan Regulation and Taxation of Marihuana Act.
Walrack says the ordinances would repeal the prohibition on marihuana establishments, but does not enable establishments or facilities which were created by the medical marihuana legislative acts of 2017, nor the emergency rules of 2019. The ordinances also lay out the process for local licensing.
